An examination of Residential Relocation Processes in the

Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder Areas in England

Orna Rosenfeld

In the 2000’s, housing clearance and

demolition forcefully re-emerged as

important state strategies to redevelop

decayed neighbourhoods in Western

Europe and USA.

In England, Housing Market Renewal

initiative proposed demolition of around

60.000 homes in North England and

Midlands in order to renew weak or

failing housing markets.

Planed demolition of existing housing

requires relocation of residents from

dwellings earmarked for demolition to

alternative homes.

Residential

Relocation

presents one of

the most complex

planning

interventions.

Old

Pro

per

ty

Ho

me

Loss

Dis

turb

ance

Gra

nt

Loan

sEq

uit

y Lo

an

Homeswap

Shared Equity

Affordable Property

Source: National Audit Office, 2007

‘We had no standards, but we had a way of working ... to try

and ensure people got feedback, they had plenty of choice

and all the rest of it, but there was no formal guideline’

‘It depends … I am sorry that the answer is ‘it depends’, but it depends on the scheme that you are doing,’ explained the MSP representative in his phone interview, ‘how [relocation] is handled varies from scheme to scheme depending upon the structure of the partnership’

‘I think what’s not necessarily always acknowledged is ... the cost that that [relocation] actually involves ... it’s not

necessarily planned out as realistically as it might be’,commented the BNG respondent critically.

‘This can involve anything, really, organising the removal, paying the disturbance, informing them about the time scales ... we help them to find suitable alternative accommodation. When they don’t know where to go they come to us ... if we don’t manage it, we enable to make it happen’.

‘We buy properties on the open market near demolition areas, refurbish them to decent standard specifications’, explained the GW respondent.

‘The relationship that you have with them [relocatees] is crucial

because if you’re advising somebody that hasn’t moved in years

and the ways that allocation policies for housing have probably

changed beyond recognition’. Relocation Officer BNG.

‘The percentage of affordable housing doesn’t

necessarily respond to number of households moving

out of a clearance area’. EEL Respondent .

‘When their homes wasn’t gonna be demolished, they sort of walked away’ BNG Resident.

We’re not against regeneration’, said a residents’

representative in TSY, ‘just the wholesale demolition of

Spital Hill. We would like to be listened to and to take

an active role in rewriting the Masterplan …’ (Burngreave

Messenger, March 2005).

Planning Strategy

Financial Assistance Provision

Resident Support

Alternative Housing Provision

Ow

ne

r O

ccu

pie

rs

Soci

al T

en

ants

Pri

vate

Te

nan

ts

Community Involvement

PathfinderNon statutory body

delegates statutory tasks to entitled partners

Local Authority Statutory body

delegates tasks to contracted agencies

LAs delegating implementation of RR processes

Financial Assistance

Planning Strategy

Alternative Property Provision

Community Involvement

Resident Support

• Private Consultants • RSLs

• Private Lenders

• Private Developers • RSLs• Housing Associations• ALMOs

• Community / Voluntary Groups• RSLs• Private Consultants

• ALMOs• Housing Associations

‘It's like a tale of two cities, to be honest. The

approach on the East End and the West End [of

Newcastle]… they are just miles apart. It is

really interesting to see how one city can take

such a different and diverse approach to

regeneration.’ Relocation Officer BNG

‘The approach that we’re taking [in Scotswood] is really to get through the

demolition and the site assembly before anything is handed over to the developers

… it always works on the basis that we take care of the demolition and basically

provide a green space for future development.’ Scotswood Regeneration

Director.

‘In Walker, we’ve had a number of foundations in place…The approach was that we wanted to really take the community with us … have them involved in the whole project. So we would clear some land, build some houses and move some of the community in, then knock their houses down, build some more houses, move the next lot of community in.’ Walker Project Leader.

‘We came up with fantastic plans …we produced them… with the help of

architects… in the process of this planning, we gave up our homes, I did...The whole

package now is really good, it worked well for me, but not without an awful lot of

heartache’, Scotswood resident.

‘And we were in the middle waiting for things to happen, it was very political..…you would go to the meeting and you’d have a Councillor saying, “I don’t agree with that” and I was saying “well, why not”… “Oh, no, that wouldn’t work” … we as community reps said “you have no authority to stop the project’ Walker Resident. ”.

Contribution to Knowledge

Residential Relocation:• Residential relocation in differentiated polities is delivered by a complexnetwork of actors operating at ta local level. Governance of relocationexplains why outcomes of residential relocation are mixed and uncertain.

Policy level• Future policy would benefit from adopting a process approach toresidential relocation planning and implementation.• Development of strategies for cross-tenure relocation• Clarification of accountability for residential relocation.• Management of residential relocation governance networks.

Theoretical level• Key contribution is devising a theoretical vehicle that shows howgovernance has a profound impact on residential relocation delivery inurban regeneration and development.

International relevance

Orna Rosenfeld :: orna.rosenfeld@my.westminster.ac.uk